The smells we associate with newness and cleanliness — a fresh coat of paint, a new car, lemon-scented disinfectant — are not as harmless as they may seem. These odors are caused by the release of gases called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and they come from more sources than you might expect. When these gases build up in indoor air, some of them can contribute to a wide range of health problems.

Each year, Air Quality Awareness Week is a joint effort by the Environmental Health Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) to educate the public about the growing problem of air pollution.

Coming up with standards in the air purifier industry is challenging because air, itself, is complex. Defining performance characteristics for air purifiers starts with identifying what is in the air and measuring their impact, before methods can be developed to test the possible air purification product itself.

Globally, indoor and outdoor air pollution are one of the leading risk factors for death. Sources of outdoor air pollution can include fires, cars, or power plants just to name a few. Indoor air pollution can come from cooking, industrial byproducts, mold, or many other sources.

We recently had a chance to talk with the Unorthodoc, also known as Dr. Patrice Smith, a Washington DC orthodontist who approaches her practice and her whole life in an unorthodox way. Dr. Smith doesn’t just spend all day making smiles, she is also an entrepreneur and nonprofit founder.

Air purifiers have a positive impact on our lives, so some may ask if that impact extends to sleep. Air pollution does not stop when we sleep, so the simple answer is yes, if you want the full benefits of your air purifier it should be running in your bedroom when you sleep.

For the past few years, wildfires have been increasing in North America, costing the US government around $3 billion each year. Officials in Northern California are preparing for fires year-round instead of focusing on a single fire season in the fall. Those of us who live in areas where fire is common are all too well aware of the smoke that drifts for hundreds of miles and impacts our comfort and health.

... Individual molecules of gaseous substances cannot be detected by a particle counter, they are just too small to trigger the detector. So while the particle-counting approach certainly tells us something about the quality of the air, it is definitely not the whole story.